Red Dawn
by Poetgirl616
Summary: Edward leaves Bella and she looks to Jake to pick up the pieces. . . But what happens when one mistake changes everything? Bella/Edward   Status: In the process of being rewritten
1. Chapter 1: Lost And Found

Chapter One: Lost And Found

I just didn't understand it. Edward had been distancing himself from me more as each day passed. I've tried approaching him on several occasions, but to no avail, he either ignored me or changed the subject. He was good at dodging the issue, I had to admit that, but by now I knew exactly what he was doing.

_***Flashback***_

_Alice and the 'older' Cullens weren't at school when I pulled into the school parking lot. I saw Edward standing next to his Volvo waiting for me as he did every day. I looked over at him as tugged me forward, meaning to ask where Alice was but decided to wait until later. He released my arm when I obeyed his silent request to walk. Edward was unusually quiet as we walked over to the bench beside the parking lot. We had not sat on the bench for long, when Edward saw Mike heading our way._

_"Newton, I hear you are having some car trouble." Edward said as he left his seat beside me._

_"Uh. . . . well my engine isn't picking up the pace. I have to rev it up a couple times to get my car moving. But I gotta hit the men's now. We can talk about it later." Mike stuttered from shock at the beginning but as he spoke he became confused. Mike glanced at me hoping I could explain as he turned to walk inside._

_"Excellent, just the destination I had in mind as well." He barely turned his head as he waved at me. "See you later, Bella."_

_I watched, perplexed as they entered the building together discussing car parts I couldn't even prounounce. Jessica and Lauren were laughing not far away, taking turns between glancing at me and where the boys disappeared. "Whats the matter, Bella? Edward starting to prefer boys now?" She taunted in her nasal voice._

_"Yeah, Bella. Is your hideous personality finally driving him to change teams?" Lauren sneered as she high fived Jessica before the two walked off laughing._

_I was clenching my fists angrily, trying to resist the urge to follow them and beat them into a bloody pulp. Who do those two-faced bitches think they are anyway? They have no room to talk about hideous personalities-they have them! And where the hell is Edward? I fumed as I waited for either Edward to join me outside or first bell to ring._

_I was walking to first period when I noticed that Edward had not emerged from the men's room yet. He had mentioned needing to go fifteen minutes ago. There was no way he would be in there that long. He's a vampire-he didn't even use the bathroom! What could he possibly be doing?_

_I froze in place when I saw him sitting next to Mike, Jessica and Lauren talking and laughing about something I couldn't hear. What the hell is going on?_

_All through the class period Edward studiously ignored me and focused completely on the lesson. Which was clearly a distraction because the lesson was duller than sitting around a deserted coffee shop watching a fly continously bump into the light fixture at a slow leisurely pace. This pattern of feigned attentiveness continued throughout the morning, growing increasingly annoying._

_***End Flashback***_

"Bella, I'm heading out! Be back in time for dinner at the earliest." Charlie called from the living room.

"Okay, dad, it will be on the table when you get home." I replied as loud as I could, closing the book I had attempted to read. _The Lord of the Rings_ just didn't appeal to me today; I had too much to think about.

I decided to head downstairs to plan dinner and check the groceries. I opened every cabinet, double checked the freezer and overturned every nook of the fridge making absolutely sure I didn't miss _anything_. I went through the ingredients in my head a few times. I ended up with the meal plan of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fresh hand-tossed salad, and a triple chocolate cake for dessert, because let's face it I had a lot of free time and I needed to keep my mind busy.

After I had everything spread out on the table and ready to serve I went to the living room to make sure Charlie's football games recorded as scheduled, knowing he'd want to watch them once he finished with dinner. He was a _huge_ football fan, the man was a fanatic. He wouldn't miss a single game no matter who played and was known to scream angrily at the TV until he was red-faced when his team lost the ball or yell happily when his team scored.

I smiled fondly at the thought; the man was spirited I could give him that. He gave one hundred percent in everything he did, and I admired him for that. I picked up a large special edition of The Lord of the Rings to read until dinner time.

I tried to focus on _The Lord of the Rings_ again while I waited to see if Edward would drop by to visit me before Charlie gets home. I doubted he would since he's been distant, but a girl could hope. I wanted to know now why he was being so distant. I went over the past week in my head, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There definitely didn't seem to be anything to cause this sudden change in his behavior. I shook my head, I should forget about it for now, I scolded myself. I wouldn't get anywhere by driving myself crazy trying to figure it out. I would have to wait until I saw him again to ask him about it. Problem is, I don't know when I'll see him next, so I have no idea when I'll be able to talk to him about this.

I sighed and threw the book onto the couch. This was useless; there was no way I'd be able to concentrate on the events of the book with my churning thoughts and emotions. I paced around the living room until I heard the door open; I spun around and sighed in relief when I saw it was Edward.

"Holy shit, Edward, you scared me. What happened to knocking?" I moved forward to kiss him but he very neatly dodged me, stepping back and clearing his throat.

"Bella, we need to talk."

"I thought you couldn't read my mind."

"I can't."

"Then we are thinking the exact same thing. I thought we needed to talk just a minute ago and then you show up at my house and announce it. How crazy is that?"

"Bella, we need to discuss some things. It may be a good idea if you sit down."

"Why? I'm fine standing, thank you."

"Sit down, please."

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked warily.

"We're leaving, Bella."

"Okay then. I'll just have to get packed and leave Charlie a note explaining my move."

"My family and I are leaving Forks. We have to leave soon; people are getting suspicious of Carlisle. Jasper is getting restless and so is Emmett. We need a new atmosphere." Here he paused for a moment. "An atmosphere filled with fellow vampires so it isn't so difficult. Of course I'm not taking you with me, you aren't good for me."

For some reason his last statement pissed me off. "You mean not good enough for you?"

"Bella, the bottom line is I _want_ to leave without you. I don't want you anymore, I don't love you anymore."

"Get out! You son of a bitch! Get out of my house! _Get out_!" I threw whatever I could reach, wanting to hit him wherever I could. The items in reach included plates, vases, pictures, and of course _The Lord of the Rings_ hard back edition.

In a flash Edward was out of sight. I didn't care where he went the bastard didn't want me anymore. What Rosalie told me was true; he was going back to Tanya. He didn't love me anymore, that was why he was distancing himself from me the last few days. I didn't want him and his family to leave but at the same time I was angry that he would say such things after everything we've been through. I couldn't take anymore; I had to escape the house that held so many memories for me. I ran outside and kept running despite the fact that it had begun to rain. I didn't care where I went as long as I wasn't in Charlies' house.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was sprinting through the woods surrounding the house, trying to escape the pain pumping through my veins and burning everything like acid. I kept tripping since the ground became twice as slick as before and I couldn't see the roots sticking up with the rain in my eyes. I finally gave up after the fifteenth fall. My arms were scratched and bleeding, but the rain washed most of the blood away. I didn't care that I wasn't under any cover from the trees and that the cold rain pooled around my form as I curled into a ball on the ground. I don't know how long I lay there but I guessed a while because my entire body was becoming numb.

I heard distorted voices in the distance and saw dim light feet in front of me. I figured I should do something; yell, move, throw a stick. Do anything to let them know I was here and still very much alive.

Something moved nearby and I knew I should be afraid but I was just so tired. A man with russet skin and hair black as the night itself emerged from behind the trees and carefully scooped me into his arms. He began to walk away, leaving me to stare at the spot I had just left. A part of me knew I should be very about a stranger carrying me away, but I didn't care. More voices could be heard up ahead, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. The man was telling them something, and it sounded like he was repeating himself. One question lazily floated around my groggy mind: where was he taking me?

People were rushing around and nudging each other when I was brought into the circle of the tikki torch light. Everyone turned to look at us and seemed to rush towards us in panic. I tried to concentrate through the haze that was creeping up on me.

Charlie was the first to reach us and guided my founder to the house. He held the door open while the other man carried me inside and placed me carefully onto the sofa. Darkness began to slowly creep on me from the corner of my eyes and I willingly gave in. When I opened my eyes again I was so cold, I ached everywhere and my eyes were having trouble focusing so everything seemed blurrier than it should be. I could feel something wet dabbing at my face, arms and legs gently; my vision slowly cleared enough so I could make out the form of a muscular russet colored body beside me.

The man seemed to be speaking to someone else in a slightly distorted voice though I could make out most of what he said. "I think she's coming out of it . . . . No, she didn't . . . . Possibly led . . . . Cullens . . . . Something about a new city."

"More ice, Charlie. The water is hot again, her body temperature is heating it too quickly; I can't get a good cold compress." Someone said to the right. I couldn't make sense of what they were saying, I was so tired. So cold.

"What's the temp?" A deep voice asked from beside my face.

"102 degrees and it's trying to rise. Hurry, Charlie."

"What happens if we don't get her temperature down soon?" My father asked.

Silence.

"What happens?" He repeated anxiously, his voice rising a pitch.

"Possible brain injuries or death. We won't let it raise, we're doing everything we can do to bring it down. Sam, go find another blanket."

The last thing I saw before darkness possessed me again was the russet skinned man leaving my side, his face full of frustration.

**A/N: A huge thank you to Psychological Witch and Willow Jane for helping me rewrite this chapter! You guys are the greatest! **


	2. Chapter 2: Recovery

Chapter Two: Recovery

I opened my eyes to see Charlie asleep on the armchair and a muscular man I recalled to be Sam sleeping on a pellet between me and my father. He had a washcloth in his hand and two buckets full of what appeared to be ice water on the floor beside him, one looked melted while the other looked quite fresh. He looked just as I remembered him from the beach. He was with the Quileute boys when some kids from school and I went to the Indian reservation in La Push.

I felt much better except the blankets over me made me too hot. Tossing them off weakly, I tried wetting my very sore dry throat to ask Sam for some water to drink. "Sam? Sam, wake up please. Sam!" I whispered hoarsely.

He jumped up suddenly, taking a moment to look at his surroundings before noticing that I was awake and gazing at him. "You're awake. How do you feel?" He whispered back, though it didn't take the deepness out of his voice.

"Okay, I guess. Could I please have some water?" I whispered in an even raspier voice that really hurt my throat.

"Oh! Sorry here, drink this." He grabbed an empty glass from the kitchen and dipped it into the bucket of ice water that looked fresh, kneeling beside me he carefully tipped the glass to help me drink. The water was so cold but that didn't matter as a rush of relief swept through my aching throat after a few gulps.

"Thank you, Sam." I paused for a moment before continuing. "I know you found me and took care of me even though you didn't have to. That was kind of you, thank you."

"You're welcome. I know I didn't have to take care of you, Bella, I wanted to. What kind of man would I be if I found you but didn't stay?"

"I don't know, but you did stay. Has Charlie been asleep long?"

"No, he dozed off about two hours ago."

"Wait, then that would mean you had less sleep!" I whispered in shock. "You stayed awake to watch over me?"

"Yes, so did your father." Sam whispered back, chuckling.

"It seems that I have something else to thank you for." Then I noticed how hungry I was, I could eat a horse! "Is there anything to eat?"

"Yeah, I cooked a large pot of hamburger helper and a medium pan of Mac and cheese. Feel up to eating it?"

"Yep, if you would bear with me a few moments and kindly help me to the kitchen, I would be very grateful."

He stood, placing a hand under my arm and one on my waist to gently lift me up into a standing position. He patiently waited while my legs adjusted, watching for my small nod to continue slowly toward the kitchen. I noticed he was very warm, but I didn't want to comment in case it offended him. He sat me down at the kitchen table despite my feeble protests, moving to the stove to scoop a healthy portion of cheeseburger Hamburger Helper and Mac and cheese on a plate before setting it in front of me. However he did not get a plate of food for himself, which intrigued me.

"You aren't eating?" I asked Sam curiously, cocking my head to the side.

"No, I ate a few helpings earlier." He replied simply.

"Oh, I see. Well that would explain a lot considering it's still decently warm. I'm sorry if I caused you to lose too much sleep. You must be exhausted." I said softly, guilt gnawing at my insides. I knew his lack of sleep was my fault. I never should have run into the forest.

"Not really. Just take a cat nap later, I'll be fine by tonight." He shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Yeah . . ."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about stuff. What happened to me?"

"You had a really high fever, Bella. Charlie had to call Dr. Gerandy over to help us get your fever down and it took most of the night. I was beginning to doubt you would wake up."

"Oh. I know that I woke up at least once but everything is so foggy that I can't make it out. The only thing I remember is seeing you next to me before I was unconscious again. Thank you, Sam." I cleared my throat awkwardly, standing up with the new strength I had gained from eating and drinking. "You should go home and get some rest, I'll be fine."

"Only since Charlie is here will I leave. Take care of yourself; I don't know when I'll be able to come back for a visit. Goodbye, Bella." Sam said before turning to leave.

"Goodbye, Sam." I watched him disappear down the road, and then headed upstairs to take a shower and change into clean clothes. I felt like an idiot for not showering before he left so I didn't smell like a pig. _What would he think of me after today_? I thought fretfully with a groan.

The hot water felt heavenly on my skin, but now that everything was said and done I began to feel hollow. I felt like something was missing. I tried to read _Lord of the Rings_ while lying on my bed; however I didn't get very far into the book before I gave up for lack of concentration. I sighed and tried pacing the room for a while, brushing through my hair with my fingers absently. I thought back to when I first arrived in Forks, how I hated everything about this small town and couldn't wait to have a chance to move back to Phoenix. Now I couldn't bring myself to leave Forks, even if I had the choice to. Whether I had intended it to or not, Forks rubbed off on me in more ways than one.

"I thought I heard you up here. It's good to see that you are awake." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"I talked to Sam a little bit before he left. I found out that you had been staying up all night to look after me. Thanks for everything, dad."

"Well now, you're welcome. What did you guys talk about?" Charlie asked with too much interest to suit me.

"Dad, we just talked about what happened last night. He explained that I had a fever and that you both took care of me with the help of Dr. Gerandy." I told him in a bit of a warning, the last thing I needed was for him to get ideas.

"Well, yes we did. He found you, you know."

"I know, he told me and I think I always knew from the skin. I've seen him before in La Push when I went to the beach with some friends. He was there with some of his friends and we kind of hung out a bit."

"I have to go to work, kiddo, so I'll see you tonight okay?"

"Okay, be safe."

"I will." And with that Charlie left for work, leaving me to continue pacing my room to think about anything to keep my mind off of what had happened yesterday in peace.


	3. Chapter 3: Wake Up Call

Chapter Three

It had been a month since the Cullens left, since Sam found me in the woods, and I had begun pulling away from everyone. I was numb most of the time, when I wasn't I was afraid everyone else would leave me too. School was my main focus at this point; I worked ahead as far as I could every night and took extra notes to keep my mind from going back to last month.

This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table with Charlie pushing my cereal around my bowl absently.

My father seemed to notice this. "Bella, we need to talk."

"About what?" I asked in confusion, pushing my bowl away.

"About you, about this! You've been cutting yourself off from everything but homework and isolating yourself from everyone more every day! I thought it was a stage at first but you didn't get better, you got worse. You've left me no choice! I will speak with your mother immediately to make the arrangements and you will move to Florida with her as soon as possible!" He thundered pointing an accusatory finger at me.

"No, dad, don't! I'm not leaving Forks! This is my home!" I yelled back frantically.

"I have no choice. You isolate yourself from everyone, you are sticking your head in your books every spare moment you have, you cut yourself off from emotions most of the time and distract yourself purposefully the time you don't cut yourself off. Damn it, Bella I'm running out of options faster than a marathon runner passes miles! I don't know what else to do."

"Dad, I can't just turn it off. It will take a while to get to where I was before. I don't want to leave Forks."

"I'll let you stay here on one condition. You will stop avoiding everyone and you will cut back on working ahead to do so. How long has it been since you've talked to Jacob? You used to be friends and now you don't talk to him at all."

I knew he was right about Jacob. It was time to renew my friendship with him, starting as soon as possible. "I'm sorry, Dad. I promise I will stop avoiding everyone and renew my friendship with Jacob."

"Good, now I have to go to work to investigate a few disappearances for Seattle. Nothing to worry about, just a few drug addicts probably overdosed and such. Family has no idea of the drug use is the saddest part of the case." Charlie mumbled, shaking his head. "Remember you're promise at school today."

"I will, Dad. I need to take a shower and get ready for school. Be safe out there."

He just grunted and left, leaving me to finish breakfast. I thought about everything that my father had said, about my conversation with Sam last month, and my friendship with Jacob. _What are you doing_? I asked myself in frustration. _I'm not going to think about last month_!

I shoved myself from the table and went to shower. After I had cleaned off I pressed my forehead against the shower wall letting the water run down my skin, reluctant to face my old friends after a month of solitude. Maybe they won't be too harsh considering everything that had happened last month. Jessica and Lauren would be the harshest, but everyone else would most likely be as gentle and friendly as they were before everything changed. I used that as fuel to drive to school and approach them all in the parking lot. Angela, Eric, Mike, Jessica, Lauren and Tyler were lounging against Mikes' new SUV talking about their weekend at the beach. Jessica nudged Lauren when she saw me approaching, causing everyones' eyes to turn to me.

"Hey guys." I offered nervously, pausing a moment. They just stood there in shock, giving me the idea to ask. "How's it going?"

"Good, Bella, how are you?" Angela asked politely as she recovered from her surprise, causing me to flash her a small smile.

"Fine thanks, Ang. I've just been a little distracted the past month considering everything." I replied quietly, my small smile fading.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I didn't mean anything." She hurried in a worried tone.

"It's okay, Ang. I know you didn't mean anything by it, I'm moving forward with my life and making amends with my past. I was wondering . . . if you would forgive my foolishness and be my friend again?" I asked quietly, biting my lip nervously.

"Of course, Bella. I completely understand why you did what you did. You were hurting and confused, but now you're recovered and that's all that matters."

"Oh, Ang, what did I do to deserve a friend like you?"

"Don't worry about it, Bella. You can make it up to me later." She pulled me into a hug.

"I will do that, but for right now we need to get to class." I said, pulling away after a moment.

Mike smiled at me warmly. "Welcome back, Bella. How was your weekend?"

"It was pretty good. I read a lot of _The Lord of the Rings_ novels. I had to quit at the second chapter of the second novel, _The Two Towers_ this morning to get ready for school."

"I've never read them. Are they any good?" He asked innocently, though earning a death glare from Jessica. Their relationship had barely survived the summer due to the wistful looks he sent me, most of the time she caught him in the act.

"They're amazing! I can never put them down once I picked them up."

"Is it hard to follow language wise? Or do they use fairly decent language?"

"I can follow it just fine, but that's just me. You may find it more difficult since you prefer the modern form of speech."

"That is true. I could give it a try, though. Eric has been bugging me about going to see the movies and the previews look alright."

"If you say so." I replied with a laugh before heading to class.

The rest of the day passed like usual. Lauren and Jessica gave me angry glares telling me to back off of their men, I had to do a seriously gross dissecting project to do for Biology, and then I had to try to play football in Gym. I tried to decide when I was going to see Jacob and what I was going to say to him after all this time. _What am I supposed to say? Sorry I've been avoiding you since the beach, Jacob I was up my vampire boyfriends' ass. Yeah, that isn't going to happen._ I thought to myself bitterly. Finally it was time to leave for home and I still hadn't decided yet, butterlies fluttered in my stomach.

I paced the living room a while before jumping into my truck and driving the fifteen minutes to La Push. I needed to see Jake today so we could start over as soon as possible. By the time I parked in front of the Black residence I felt like I was going to throw up from the nerves. A dark form emerged from a shack like structure, and paused a moment before running toward me.

"Bella?" A familiar voice asked.

"Hey, Jake!" I squealed when he picked me up and spun me around. "I'm sorry for dropping in like this but I was stuck at home and wanted to see you. I know it's been a long time since the beach and I was wondering . . . are we still cool?"

"Sure, sure. We're cool don't worry about it." He grinned at me as he put me down. He motioned for me to follow him to the structure. "Come one, I have something to show you."

The shack was actually a garage and parked in the middle was a snow white doorless, hoodless car. Tools littered the ground around the car obviously he had been working on it recent. _Wow, he's a mechanic_. I thought in awe. "Jake, this is amazing! I didn't know you could fix cars! What's this one?"

"It's a Rabbit, I've been working on her for a while so I could drive her one day when I finally finish. I didn't mention it at the beach, Bells." He stated with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, I know you didn't mention it at the beach. You were busy telling me scary stories."

We kept bantering like that while I watched him work on his car, staying in the garage until after the sun set and we couldn't see a foot in front of our faces. Charlie ordered pizza in celebration of my breakthrough in the isolation. I fell into a dreamless sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4: Renewal

The next morning I hummed a few verses of my favorite song while making breakfast, which was a first. Seeing Jacob again was easy, he just had this calm aura around him that put you at ease. That was one of the things about him that remained the same over the years that I've known him. I didn't hear Charlie come down the stairs so I jumped a little when he spoke.

"Having a good day, Bells?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, hi dad. Good morning, good evening, good life!" I replied giggling, wanting to share my new good mood. I didn't have a single nightmare last night, I didn't even dream. So I felt well rested for the first time in a month.

"I take it yesterday went well." He commented, chuckling.

"Yeah, it did. I saw Jacob yesterday and I had so much fun. I watched him work on his car in his homemade garage, and then we watched movies, and after we finished dinner we had a mini water fight when we did the dishes. The funny thing is I didn't have any nightmares last night. It feels good to get a good night's sleep again."

"That's great, Bell. I'm glad following my advice helped you get rid of your nightmares."

''I was wondering if you would mind if I went to see him again after school. He confessed that he needed help with his algebra and I told him that I would ask you about it."

"I don't mind at all. Go ahead, Bells. Have fun with Jacob and don't stay out too late. I won't be home at my usual time tonight; they're having me do a double shift." Charlie said while strapping on his gun belt on his way out the door.

"Be safe." I replied anxiously in farewell.

"Always am, Bells." He shouted as he hopped into his cruiser.

I watched him leave from the kitchen window and sighed, I hated when he did double shifts since it took much longer for them to call if something went wrong. I quickly did dishes and ran out the door to my truck, driving to school as fast as my ancient vehicle would allow. Mike and Angela were waiting for me in the parking lot; I sighed and parked next to Mikes' SUV carefully so I didn't damage it like I did his previous car.

"Hey Angela. Hey Mike. What's going on? Where is everyone?" I asked a bit nervously. Did something happen that I wasn't aware of?

"They decided to head to classes early. Something about getting there early to catch up on notes before everybody else gets there. Mr. Varner is really putting the heat on today." Mike said glumly, hanging his head a bit.

"Great, more homework for an already heavy load. Does the guy even know what a break means?" I groaned miserably.

"I seriously doubt it. The guy doesn't believe in them, he brings food and drinks with him so he only goes to the bathroom during lunch." Ang informed us gloomily. "So, basically if you have to go to the bathroom, go before class."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I'm going to go to class. I have English first and we're supposed to start our papers today so I'll see you guys later." I replied reluctantly, waving as I walked to building four.

"Bye, Bella. See you 3rd period." Angela waved as she headed to Spanish.

I sighed in relief at the warm rush of air I felt when I stepped into the English classroom. Today had been very cold and if I didn't know any better I'd say it was almost freezing, but it must be because I am used to Phoenix.

The rest of the day flew by, most of which I spent anticipating seeing Jake again. He had a way with putting you at ease, he seemed to sense what to do or say to make you forget everything bad and just relax. One day with him and I forgot the name Edward Cullen, I had more fun with Jake than I did with the Cullens, and I went an entire evening without nightmares. I wanted to experience yesterday all over again. I sped down the main road to La Push as fast as my truck would allow, the fifteen minutes it takes to get there was not soon enough for me. I parked in front of the Black residence and jumped out, seeing Jake run out of the house to greet me was fantastic.

"Bella! I thought for sure Charlie would say no. I'm so glad he didn't, I would be dead by now." He told me as he swung me.

"Okay, Jake, put me down! You wouldn't have died; you just wouldn't have passed the assignment. So let's go inside and see what we have to work with today." I replied in a teasing tone.

Jake grabbed my hand and steered me into the house to get started with the foreboding Algebra. We passed Billy in the hallway and we exchanged greetings before being taken to Jakes' tiny bedroom to gather his school stuff. We had decided to take the homework to the beach, letting Billy have the house to himself since he rarely does for an entire day. We laid a blanket on the sand, rubbed sun block on and got comfortable. I set his Algebra textbook between us and to my left, his notebook between us and to my right. We spent a good hour and a half on the equations assigned since I tried explaining to him how to do the equations correctly. He struggled with solving equations containing the letters and sines. We were packing up his books into his book bag, celebrating his success, when suddenly a splash sounded in the distance. I looked up in shock, seeing figures throwing themselves off the cliff in the distance.

"Oh my God! Jake, he just threw himself off the cliff! We need to get help!" I had jumped up and began running towards my truck.

"Relax, Bella. They're cliff diving, it's recreation around here." Jake said calmly, still packing his school stuff.

"Cliff diving? That's just . . . crazy." I shook my head at the stupidity of some people.

"Well then I guess I'm loony bin nuts because it's the greatest experience I've had so far." He told me as we walked to my truck more calmly.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean that you're crazy. It's just they are _throwing_ themselves off the cliff instead of jumping like a normal person would."

"Well there are two cliffs. The one Sam and his disciples throw themselves from, and then the one the less crazy people jump off that is half its height."

"So, they're like a small gang or something?"

"Nah, they're more like hall monitors on steroids. But they seem to get special benefits the rest of La Push doesn't."

"How is that fair? That is total bull, Jake. I am sorry that they are doing that to you guys."

"I don't know, but the Elders hold Sam and his disciples in high favor. Sometimes, when I'm at the store or just hanging around, Sam or someone from his gang will look at me like he's expecting something. It really freaks me out."

"It's okay, Jake. You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to. Let's head back so I can watch you work on your car while I work on my English paper." I suggested as we climbed into the truck. We spent the rest of the day talking about school and other teenager stuff. We decided to go to the store next week so we could buy some more DVDs and CDs. I had decided to quit my job after the incident last month and got a job at the Thriftway.

At least while working there I could escape Mike Newton.

I sat on my bed in my gray sweats, brushing out my hair while I thought about the events of today. Everything was getting better now thanks to Jake and I owed him so much already. I jumped when my phone buzzed twice against my dresser, signaling I had a text. Bella, meet me after school tomorrow I need your help. Jake.

I frowned, sending him a quick text before climbing into bed. Why? Bella.

I waited for five minutes but nothing happened, I resent the text in case he didn't receive it then waited another five minutes. Still nothing. I sighed in frustration and threw my phone onto my bedside table, turning onto my right side and tried to go to sleep in the hopes that tomorrow would hold my answers.


	5. Chapter 5: What The F?

When I woke the next morning I did not feel rested this time, worry for Jake had me tossing and turning all night. I showered and changed into a light brown button up blouse and faded jeans. I checked my phone for messages, hoping I had missed one from Jake when I slept but found nothing and that made me really angry. Damn him for ignoring me! He knows I hate it when he does that!

I drove to school, trying to keep Jake off my mind and failing miserably. I was greeted by the usual group of classmates in the parking lot which consisted of Mike, Jessica, Angela and Ben. Lauren and Tyler were off doing only God knows what at the moment. I smiled tentatively at them, waving as I walked over. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Not much. We were talking about what we were going to do the rest of the week. Mostly shopping, homework, and stuff like that. What are you doing?" Mike asked, a little too enthusiastic for Jessicas' mind for she glared at him.

"I'm going to La Push after school to hang out with someone." I replied, more than a little uncomfortable with the attention I was getting from Mike.

"Who?" Angela asked curiously.

"One of the La Push guys we met at the beach. Our families have been friends with each other for a very long time."

"Well that's cool. Have fun and be safe."

"I will, promise. I'm gonna head into class so I'll see you guys later." I waved as I headed to English.

My teacher, Mr. Thomas, drilled us the entire hour about how he wanted our paper and the corrections to make should we get it wrong. We first sorted out our internet sources, printing out the pages and cutting out the needed passages to glue onto notecards. Next we did book sources, then we used a notebook page to write down needed information in the fashion Mr. Thomas required and then finally we went to the library to cite all the information we used. I sat next to Eric in the computer lab, trying not to growl in frustration, this was ridiculous! We had to have one notecard for one paragraph and we had hundreds of paragraphs! We needed tabs for the notecards, the notecards needed to be numbered and labeled to Mr. Thomas' satisfaction or he would deduct points, we needed a certain container for the notecards that had our name on it somewhere, and we needed to write our rough draft for our thesis for him to check over. We needed to draw an outline to turn in to Mr. Thomas, subtopics and all, filled out appropriately so we knew what we were going to do in our paper and what order the suptopics would appear in our paper. To make atters worse our paper had to have our name, Mr. Thomas' name, English, first hour, and the date on the top right corner of the paper not to mention that if we messed this up or missed any information we would lose points on our paper. Crazy I know, but we had no choice in the matter.

Eric grumbled and groaned the whole time, I understood exactly how frustrated he felt. Mr. Thomas had randomly popped into the coputer lab a few moments ago to announce another requirement for our lovely research paper. We had to type up the paper as well as write our rough drafts, the same information requirements were required for the typed copy of the research paper. Fun, fun! I thought sarcastically as I furiously typed the information into my assigned computer. I began counting down the hours until I saw Jake once I got a few hundred words typed, I certainly needed something to help me finish the task.

The lunch bell rang later than I had hoped, sending me power-walking through the halls to get to my locker. I met Ang and Mike before we headed to the cafeteria together, complaining about the research paper the whole way there.

"It's cruel and unusual punishment man! No one should have to go through all that. I can't believe they actually expect us to finish by a certain date! It can't be done!" Matt ranted while stabbing some chicken onto his plate with his fork. Ang and I grumbled our agreement, the paper seemed impossible. Neither of us could see ourselves finishing the paper at all, let alone by the deadline Mr. Thomas provided!

"I don't know how the students with part-time jobs after school will get this done, I really don't." Ang mumbled sadly while we walked to our usual table. "I mean if we really wanted to get this paper done, we'd probably have to devote every second of our spare time on it so what do we do if we have jobs? That's eight or more hours we need to use for our paper."

"I don't know, Ang. We're just going to have to figure this out." I sighed while we sat. None of us liked the idea of taking the paper with us and skip eating lunch to spend all our breaks working on the paper.

Last hour arrived and I held my breath while I waited for the bell, bolting from my seat and heading to the parking lot in a brisk walk once I cleared the building. I threw my bookbag in the passengers seat and headed to La Push, pushing my truck to the point of wheezing so I could reach Jacob faster. I carefully flipped open my phone and send a quick text to Jake asking him where to meet him. I waited impatiently for a few minutes before my phone chimed, signaling a text. I flipped my phone open and read: my house. Jacob.

I parked my truck beside the Black residence, keeping my book bag in the truck while I walked toward the garage. I had a gut feeling that he was in the garage waiting for me. I froze on the spot when I heard voices inside. "Jake,please! I need to tell you something important!"

"No, Sam! Get off of my property! GET. OUT!" Jake shouted at the top of his lungs. I covered my aching ears and watched as Sam stormed out of the garage. He didn't seem to notice me so I just waited until my ears stopped hurting to walk into the garage. I was greeted by a heaving, wild eyed Jacob.

"Jake? You needed to speak with me?" I asked timidly, hoping he wouldn't explode.

He seemed to snap out of it. "Bella! I didn't see you over there, the reason I needed to talk to you just left. He's been trying to recruit me since you left my house the other day. I don't want to be in his freaky gang." He grumbled irritably.

"Oh, Jake." I hugged him, hating how he looked like lost child. "It's going to be okay, Jake."

I called Charlie saying my truck broke down so I'd probably have to spend the night while Jake fixed it. I spent the rest of the day with Jacob, helping him forget Sam and his disciples.


	6. Chapter 6

The light was unusually bright when I woke up Wednesday morning. I rolled over and opened my eyes, sitting up so quickly I almost fell out of bed. I wasn't in my bedroom this morning I looked around frantically, trying to determine where I was. I jumped when a warm russet arm found my waist, a sleepy groan coming from beside me sending memories of yesterday rushing back to me. I was in Jakes' bed. I glanced down to notice that I had one of his large shirts over the bra and panties I wore yesterday. I looked around more calmly this time, taking in the sky blue color of his walls. I noticed the small wooden desk in the far corner, a polished wooden lamp with an orange shade plugged into the wall, rulers and a pencil holder on the opposite side, leaving a space in the middle for papers and folders. I carefully slid out of bed to walk around the room, admiring the polished dresser. I reached out a finger to trace the beautifully carved wolves on the twin set drawers on each side of the polished black wooden doors. Clear glass knobs with ornately painted gold circlets where the class joined the wood decorated the drawers and each of the doors. I loved the touch the glass knobs gave the dresser but what intrigued me most was the wolves. The detail on each wolf was amazing! If I leaned in enough I could see every individual piece of fur on the body. I didn't even want to try to guess how long this must have taken to construct.

"My father made that for me when he and my mother found out I was a boy. It took him a long time to construct. He picked out the wood himself, carved each of the wolves into the wood, and had a friend of his help him with the glass knobs. My mother was so happy that he wanted to make this gift specially for me, since I was his only son. Rachel and Rebecca each have their own dressers made from dad, too. Each of ours is different, to mark how unique we are." Jake whispered from the bed. I started, whirled around with a hand over my heart. He had a small smile on his face and his eyes were far away, reliving memories of his past.

"Jake, this is—I've never seen anything like this. It's beautiful!" I gushed, hoping to erase the sad smile from his face.

"Yeah. It is beautiful. I've always liked this dresser, for as long as I can remember I've begged dad to tell me the story of this dresser. Now, me and dad grab a few cans of polish and shine up the old dresser. We think of it as male bonding while remembering something so special to this family." He sighed, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Um Jake? I don't mean to interrupt but I can't wear your shirt to school. Do you think any of Rebeccas' clothes would fit me?" I asked shyly, blushing tomato red.

He wordlessly led me down the hall to his sisters' room, careful to avoid looking at me in my state of undress. He walked to the dresser and rummaged around a little before handing me a pair of faded jeans and a white button-up blouse. "These should fit you. If they don't we'll just rummage around a little more until we find something. Breakfast should be ready in a little while, just head downstairs when you're done."

I thanked him, ducking my head in embarrassment while I passed him to the bathroom at the end of the hall. I stripped and showered before pulling on the clothes Jake had giving me. I felt a little strange wearing Rebeccas' clothes without her permission, but I guess it was better than wearing a oversized shirt that belonged to your best guy friend.

I sighed and trudged down the stairs and sat down in my favorite seat, the wooden chair with the brown cushion. Jake was in the living room finishing "Punked" while Billy piled bacon and eggs onto plates beside the stove. I sniffed the air greedily, my stomach growling loudly as I waited for the pile of food to stop growing so we could dig in. Finally, after ten minutes of waiting, Billy set the overflowing plate in the middle of the table. Jake has a knack for arriving where there's food just when it gets finished for he appeared in the chair across from me. I grinned at him, shaking my head in amused disbelief.

Billy laughed. "So, kids, what have you two been up to? I didn't hear you two last night. Actually, Bella, I don't recall you coming here at all. Was I at home when you got in?"

"No, dad. You were out fishing with Harry and Sam." Jake replied quickly.

"Where did you sleep?" The older man asked. I choked out my soda, spitting it out onto the table and blushed two shades of red.

Jake blushed and looked at the table for a moment uncomfortably before replying. "She slept in my bed . . . with me . . . in one of my shirts."

Bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Well . . . that wasn't expected." He said awkwardly.

"Please don't tell Charlie."

"Don't worry, Bella. Charlie doesn't have to know about this unless something happened."

Silence.

"Nothing happened did it?"

"No! Jake is my best friend! That would be beyond awkward."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school, Bella?" Billy suddenly asked.

I practically threw my dishes into the sink and washed them in blinding speed then shot out to my truck, yelling goodbyes over my shoulder as I sped away.

The school day was definitely less interesting than breakfast with Billy and Jake that morning. Needless to say Charlie was clueless about the Jake incident so he wasn't angry at me and the night was boring as usual. I fell into a dreamless, restful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

*One Week Later*

"Jake, _come_ _on_! You need to pick up your feet! I don't wanna be late for lunch with your dad!" I yelled while I tugged a reluctant Jacob into the store. He finally straightened up and walked around the store like a normal person instead of making me drag him like an overgrown kid going to the dentist. We spent a good portion of time goofing off; trying on sunglasses we knew didn't suit us just for kicks, throwing marshmallow bags at each others heads, passing a large light up bouncing ball like a basketball, and making total and complete idiots out of ourselves for the hell of it. My favorite of these shananigans was when we found the feathered boas and began wearing them like scarves and posing like models, taking pictures of the craziness with our cell phones. I had tried to convince him to buy some muscle shirts, but he spoiled my fun by blushing and pulling me away quickly. I ended up looking at lingerie and pretended to try it on while he watched, trying to hid his rapidly growing blush.

Alas, the fun ended when Jacob spotted Sam two aisles over looking at some t-shirts. His smile slipped as he nudged me lightly in the side with his elbow and jerked his head the opposite direction. We then proceeded to tip toe in the other direction, relieved when we made it past three aisles without being seen. We had begun to relax and tip toe a little more slowly, finally walking normally when we still had not been caught. We did not get far before we heard a throat clearing behind us and I jumped like a guilty child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, slowly spinning on my heels to meet a well toned russet colored chest.

My eyes traveled up until I met the eyes of a smirking Sam, a single eyebrow raised. "Care to explain why you were trying to tip toe in a store?"

I gulped, looking sideways at Jake nervously. He looked like he had seen a ghost. I reluctantly focused on the bear of a man in front of me. "We—we were just goofing around. We didn't know anyone was watching us so you startled us a little."

"How have you been, Bella?"

"Fine, I have been helping Jake with his homework for a while. How about you?"

"I've been good. I see you have been spending the night to help him do his homework."

My eyebrows shot up and my mouth dropped. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you leave Jakes' house early in the morning last week. I also noticed that you wore his shirt to bed that night." Sam replied simply, watching my reaction.

"Were you stalking us?" I asked incredulously. _He had seen me? How? What would he think of me now? Did he think we did something? What if he tells Chalrie?_ I thought in panic.

"Says the girl hiding outside a garage listening to a private conversation? No, I was walking through the woods that morning looking for mushrooms. It helps me think sometimes."

"You knew about that? You won't tell Charlie about the shirt situation, will you? He thinks I stayed at Billys because my truck broke down and Jake fixed it for me." I waited anxiously for his answer. Jake glared at Sam throughout the conversation.

"No, I will not tell him. I need to speak with Jake for a moment, if you please. It is a very urgent matter."

"I am afraid I can't do that, because we have to meet Billy and Charlie for lunch. Goodbye Sam." I grabbed Jacobs' russet arm and tugged him to the cashiers' counter to pay for what little we wanted. I barely heard Sams' whispered goodbye. We hurried to my truck and sat there staring at each other with evil grins.

"That was crazy!" Jake stated breathlessly.

I laughed and put my face in my hands. "I can't believe I just did that! Sam was so nice to me and I practically slapped him in the face."

After a few more moments we sped to the diner, grinning when I saw the cruiser already there. We found my father and Billy at their usual table.

"So, kids, how was the shopping?" Charlie asked once we had been served our drinks.

Jake almost choked on his soda, I assumed he was thinking about either the lingerie or the encounter with Sam-or probably both.

"It was fun. Me and Jake wreaked havoc through the store departments today. I promise we didn't cause too much mischief-but it was certainly fun to goof off." I smiled as I sipped on my Mountain Dew.

"Ah, I see. Did you two run into anyone unexpected?" Billy asked as he unfolded his napkin to arrange his silverware.

I raised my eyebrow a little in suspicion. "Not really. We just ran into Sam and stopped for a moment or two to talk about a few things."

"Really?" Charlie asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

I sighed. "Dad, we just caught up a little bit. No big deal."

"Okay, Bells." He said nonchalantly, making me suspicious. "How is homework going, Jacob?"

"Good, Bella is very smart. She helps me understand a lot of stuff I would never understand if I was left to decipher it myself." He replied, smiling gratefully at me.

"Aww, you're too sweet." I said as I playfully pushed his arm.

Our waitress, a young brunette, walked over to us with a notepad and a pen. "Are you ready to order?"

"Um yes. I am going to have your double bacon cheeseburger with everything on it, an order of curly fries, an order of cheesesticks with a container of ranch and a slice of apple pie for dessert." I replied, handing the menu back to her. I noticed the guys were looking at me funny. "What?"

"You're going to eat all that? Where do you put it?" Charlie asked in astonishment.

"I am going to eat it all. As for where I am going to put it, that is none of your business." I giggled, sipping my soda.

"I'll have your triple cheeseburger with everything on it, two orders of curly fries and a double order of cheesesticks. Thanks."

"Wow, Jake. Um I'll have your barbecue steak, mashed potatoes with white gravy, and an order of green beans."

"I'm fine, thank you. Don't you always eat steak, Charlie?"

"No, Billy, I do not. Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm sure."

I spent the rest of that day with Jake, Billy, and Charlie. Charlie agreed to let Jake spend the night so we could get homework done but he had to sleep on the couch and I had to give him a ride to La Push before I went to school. I was ecstatic about the sleep over.

"Hey, Bell?" Jake whispered from my bedroom floor. He had snuck into my room when Charlie fell asleep and set up a makeshift sleeping bag on my floor.

"Yeah, Jake?" I whispered back, holding in a yawn.

"What did you feel when you saw Sam today?"

The sudden question caught me off guard.

"I don't know. I guess I am grateful to him for finding me, but he isn't my friend or anything." I replied carefully.

"Okay. Night, Bells." Jake said with a yawn.

"Night, Jake." I fell asleep to the soothing sound of his soft snores.

**A/N: Alright everybody you know the drill! R&R so I know what I'm doing right and what I can do to make my stories better! Any ideas on how you want things to go please feel free to share! Ch 8 should be up soon with any luck so keep an eye open! Thanks for reading! **


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